The last hurrah

so I included an update on Saturday from me but I hope everyone got to read Lauren's update as well.

Today is Tuesday October 6th. At least for the next 5 minutes. We have been in Korea for the last 3 days. And since my last update I have gotten myself a cold which has just about kicked my but. Regardless we spend some time in Seoul - mostly wandering and in Inchon checking out local scenery and I spent an entire day on the ship hoping to recover enough to go to the DMZ today with Elsa, Linda and WIlf. It was pretty cool but the day has gotten the best of me and as we say good by (our flight back to the US is tomorrow) we all really remember our trip fondly and while we look forward to getting back dont quite want to let it all go. SO Lauren had some comments on my last update that I thought I would include and I will leave it at that. I hope to get out a wrap up when I am back in CT and feeling better but for now I need to sleep!

To keep Kristen honest I feel like I have to add my 2 cents. She is mostly correct in that being a vegetarian does give me a get out of jail free card on eating most of the strange looking foods. This however was NOT the case at the Kaiseki dinner- where I was watched very carefully and several times ladies came over to make sure I was eating- going as far as making a small plate, placing it in front of me and standing there staring at me until I ate it- it was like a stand off! The Geisha dance reminded me of the electric slide- so you all know K10 tore it up!

Also on the food front I can not believe she did not mention Mo's if for no other reason then it had a version of the deep fried potato burger...imagine a croquette on a roll. Mo's is a japanese version of McD's...so of course they serve tea with their burgers and have all kinds of burgers that you will not find at any McD's in the United States. As our trip winds down (we fly home tomorrow) it is bittersweet.

We are of course looking forward to getting home to our routines and food we recognize but we have had such a good time with Kristen, Wilf and Linda it is going to be sad to say good-by. Each person has added a little something different and made the trip that much better. Kristen has done her part to keep Elsa company at meals where the food is literally crawling off the griddle, helped us navigate the trains, taxi and subway situations and I swear she can read any language or at least has convinced herself and me that she can.

The latest and greatest from Kristen

Thursday night we left our final stop in Japan – Nagasaki. While in Nagasaki, we had an opportunity to visit ground zero for the atomic bomb and the Atomic Bomb Museum. It’s a pretty sobering place. Needing a little uplifting we took a pottery tour on day two and learned all about Amari pottery in Arita. Beautifully and very detailed hand painted porcelain bowls and sake cups, tea cups, etc... We will include a picture. The best part was we were able to paint our own pottery and they will fire it and sent it to us. Hope they don’t get it mixed with the real stuff! To complete the trip we went out on an expedition for Yacata (or cotton for those who don’t speak Japanese – like us) Kimono’s; we were told they make great bathrobes. We were also told that there would be an abundant supply in any department store, well after investigating the shopping mall (a covered street with hundreds of small shops of all types) and two of the major department stores, all we came out with were a few small items and treats. No Yacata Kimono’s – apparently they are out of season – even though it is in the high 70’s every day. So completely defeated and exhausted we boarded the ship and left Nagasaki Thursday night.

We arrived in Incheon Korea today where there are celebrating Thanksgiving and most things are closed. That said we managed to find Chinatown which had some activity. In every stop we have made so far (except Tokyo) one of the main attractions has been the Chinatown yet we are not in China…. Tomorrow we will head to Seoul for a little investigation...

What we haven’t talked a lot about is the food. In Japan we got just about everything on Elsa’s list - with the exception of Ramen noodles which seemed no where to be found even though all the guide books say it’s a popular meal and there is a ramen museum in Yokohama – go figure. SO the following is really about what Elsa and I ate because the whole concept of vegetarian cooking is a challenge… For instance they would serve their vegetarian soup and it would come in beef broth… therefore Lauren didn’t eat a lot off of the ship. We started our culinary experience with shabu shabu. This was our first time having to leave our shoes at the door sit on tatami mats; fortunately this time there was a little dug out for our feet so we didn’t need to sit on the floor. In the center of the table was a pot of boiling broth and after enjoying some Japanese salads and appetizers they brought raw beef that we cooked in the broth and then vegetables and ultimately they made soup our of it; wrapping out the dinner with a gelatin thingy mabob… Lets also assume with every meal tea is served at every meal. Another Japanese dinner was teppanyaki (I am spelling that phonetically). Actually we had two of these meals one with Kobe beef and another just regular beef. But in terms of style it is similar to what we know as Bennihana without the theatrics and add in some unsuspecting live seafood. You may remember the poor screaming shrimp, the Kobe beef we had abalone – which was a little less active on the grill and really yummy. We have had super fresh and yummy sushi, light and flavorful tempura and one night one of the dishes we had was basically deep fried mashed potatoes – an Irish girls definition of hea-ven! It is amazing how much deep fried stuff they have. We have had bean paste in every form, udon noodles, miso, tea, tea and more tea. We went to the Japanese McDonalds call Mos Burger and it was delish. And we haven’t even talked about the dining on the ship or the food they are making all along the streets and of course with the amount of time we have spent in Chinatown.

And then there was the traditional Japanese meal we had called the Kaiseki dinner. It was a series of small dishes that are served in a specific order and during the dinner there was also the Geisha. Lauren and I had an opportunity to demonstrate our Geisha dancing skills which are sure were impressive at the least. This dinner was probably the dinner I was most unsure about especially as some of the dishes I was certain I didn’t want any of, but there was no opting out (unless you’re a vegetarian… convenient).. There was one particular dish that looked like an eyeball of some sort covered in strawberry yogurt. I looked at it squeamishly and deferred to Elsa to try it first; which she was more than happy to do and we discovered it was just a potato covered in some pink mayo and caviar concoction. There were probably 20 different plates and Lauren took pictures of all of them but now it’s hard to recollect what we ate…

All that said my stomach was grateful; I brought my oatmeal so it recognized something… All in all that has been our food journey... some great, some good, some scarry... We are now in Korea and off to Seoul we go!

Update from Lauren

For those keeping score- I am still in the lead on the temple stamp race. Although I am fairly certain this competitive nature is very un-buddha.

The tea that Kristen refers to as "like sipping the bottom of the fish tank" is Matcha- a green tea in powder form. Elsa loves it. I think it okay- not my favorite. You can find it in the US in most stores- definitely whole foods- so if you want to really get the Japanese experience make a super dense overly sweet frosting and enjoy that with some Matcha and you basically have created the tea ceremony. The sweets are absolutely beautiful- I hate to eat them for 2 reasons they taste horrible and they are just soooo pretty. Unfortunately the ladies watch you like a hawk and will not take your plate away until it is empty. This is in contrast to so many yummy treats that you find all over- you do have to be careful of the ever present bean paste- K10 is right it is in almost everything.

For our faithful readers- I want you to take a moment and realize that Kristen traveled to Kyoto solo. I was so impressed! She got herself to the train station. Bought tickets- got on the correct train and then explored Kyoto all by herself. It may not sound impressive- but if you could imagine all the signs written in Japanese and no one speaking English...you start to understand how brave and impressive that feat was. Needless to say we were all glad when she made it back safe and sound.

Arima and the royokan was a great experience and I recommend anyone traveling to Japan- make sure you stay in at least one royokan. We checked in about 1:30pm to a proper tea ceremony- yes more bean paste works of art and of course a cup of Matcha tea. After 'enjoying' our treat we were escorted to our room. It was actually more like a suite, the front room with the large window and views of the mountains had a living room set up, separated by sliding screen doors was our inner room that had a low table and pillows on the floor. The entire floor was tatami mats and when you entered the room you had a small room where you took off your shoes. The hallway to the bathroom was actually small pebbles with large stepping stones as the path. Some royokans have only shared bathrooms so make sure to be clear about a private bath when you book. Most royokans have hot spring baths and this was no exception- so after changing into our yukata (cotton kimono) we headed for a soak....it was glorious and I will leave it at that. They provide everything you will need at a royokan from the shampoo to the pj's- even a tooth brush- so don't pack a thing- they have it all! Our dinner was served in our room. It was a 12 course kaiseki dinner- before dessert was served our server asked us what kind of futon we wanted, pillow, blanket, etc. As usual language was a bit of a barrier so Elsa was not exactly sure what she chose. After dinner another soak was suggested by our server- after we poached ourselves again we headed back to our room to find they had laid out our beds. We had been wondering about the bed situation- they roll them up and hide it somewhere in the room.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and then checked out the town of Arima. Elsa enjoyed sampling the street food and I collected 2 more stamps with a couple of temple visits. Oh yeah I am still in the lead big sister!

Yokohama, Kobe, and more... Oh my...

So day two in Yokohama - we took a tour of a local cave, and two shrines, one of which had a huge Buddha. I think Lauren included a picture of the Buddha on the site. Shrines and temples are like Starbucks in the US, there seems to be one on every corner. Not quite that many but definitely like churches in Italy. Early in the trip Lauren and Elsa discovered these temples sell these special books that they will put their special stamp in. It is said the more stamps the longer your life. The stamp is typically a red stamp which they write around using Sanskrit and Japanese calligraphy - it is really very beautiful. Each temple has its own stamp that they will put in your book (for a small fee – between L & I we have probably amassed a small fortune in stamps) but it has been fun and an incentive to get to the next temple not to mention an inexpensive memento. That said it is a bit of a competition between Lauren and I. At this point I think she is ahead - damn her! Don’t tell her but I am waking up early and victory will be mine!!!

Japan has two major religions Shinto and Buddhism. Both religions have many temples and each temple appears to honor a different deity. Each deity covers a certain area: health, wealth, success, etc… The challenge for me has been telling what temple we are at. Generally they do not have anything in English. What I can tell visiting the temples prepare you for paradise (what they call the after life). Each temple also seems to have an area for children who have died and the thought is they place a small statue at these temples on the child’s behalf because they did not have the opportunity to visit the temples to prepare them for paradise and this will help the child find its way to paradise. So remember the cave I told you about. Well – the cave is like the Cliff Notes version of hundreds of temples. In the cave there are several areas where they are marked with the sign of 10-20 different shrines. So instead of going to all of the shrines individually you can just go to this one… Bad news you don’t get the individual stamps… just one…

Just before leaving Yokohama we were treated to a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, taiko drums and a master calligrapher… Which was a real treat, the taiko drummers were awesome, all women in unison. Ok so I guess I got to say something about the tea ceremony. This was the first of two we would experience. Women in traditional kimonos began with serving what looked like a fondant persimmon they refer to as a sweet. Well it is not particularly sweet and my assumption is it is bean paste – I have learned when in doubt it is bean paste. Oh – and don’t think you can take a quick bite and be done… No – you have to finish it – and they ARE watching. Following the sweet they served tea. There is a lot of pressure because you have to bow and hold the cup in a particular hand and twist it but not too much… I don’t want to insult them and I have to now drink the tea. OKAY – here is the honest truth – I don’t like tea, not even a little bit. Not English, chamomile, Lipton or even iced. I do enjoy a good Long Island iced tea but that is because it doesn’t actually have any tea in it… Not the tea they use for the ceremony is a powdered green tea the whisk into water, its thick and very green and if not whisked completely it is chunky, regardless to me it tastes like the bottom of a fish tank. Oh and yes I have to finish it and slurp loudly to show how much I am enjoying it. Yummy…. And yes, I did it again. But I do love the tradition and the Japanese are so gracious, warm and attentive you just want to make them happy.

So since starting this update we spent three days in Kobe and are now sailing the inland sea headed for Nagasaki. I spent one of the days touring Kyoto temples and Lauren and Elsa spent some time at a traditional Japanese Inn called a Royokan. Maybe L will give us an update on that…. Many of the Japanese cities have suffered fires, earthquakes and wars so they have been updated over the years. Kyoto is probably the most traditional and oldest of the Japanese cities complete with a Geisha district called Gion. If you read Memoirs of a Geisha this will sound familiar. … By the end of the day I walked so much my feet almost fell off! A travel tip: if traveling to Japan with Temple visits on you agenda do not wear sneakers, you will be asked to remove your shoes at least once for every temple and maybe more. I visited 5 or 6 temples I must have taken off my shoes 900 times. Good for the back and gluteus max…. It was a great day and an adventure getting there, then navigating the area and finally returning. They have maps every where which you might think would be helpful but not necessarily. Sometimes north is at the top of the map sometimes it is to the right…Its just crazy but fun and we are having a great adventure….

Next up the food… we have not stopped eating but you will find about that tomorrow!

A day at sea... time for an update

So Lauren has covered most of the topics I had planned to cover in the next blog update. Which is fine but she didn’t use the blog function, she just used email – this my friend is WRONG!!! In the meantime we have clarified the rules, regulations, roles and responsibilities etc… so hopefully we are all on the same page going forward. Also feel free to leave you comments on the blog as well. Weaved into this update is Lauren’s updates as well as some additions to her comments.

Today – we are at sea. After leaving Yokohama yesterday we will be at sea today arriving in Kobe tomorrow morning at 9am. This gives us all a break from all the running around… That said the seas seem to me to be a little choppy and Lauren is really sensitive to all the movement so it may not prove to be as relaxing as she might hope… So here we go, can not believe we are 6 days into the trip already!

Lauren was correct the language is a HUGE barrier- I had expected more signs in English and people speaking English and that is not what we have experienced. But we are in Japan so lets be reasonable. That said it is amazing what pointing and a few “Arigato’s” can get you. In a tour yesterday I learned they use “domo” for a lot of things so we will take “domo” out for a spin and see what we get. One thing I will say is while there are a lot of signs. We may not be able to read all of them and even if they are in English we may not understand which way we are supposed to go or what we should or should not be doing. There are also maps everywhere. So just when you think you may be lost there is a map posted on the side of the building or on a sign in the side walk, but here again you may or may not be able to figure it out. Tokyo in all of its glory was not built on a grid system and it is huge so finding your way around can be challenging, but in our adventures in Tokyo we were never lost for long and in the journey we found some really great things!

Yokohama was a little smaller and more manageable. The first day we arrived, Lauren relaxed on the boat. Elsa and I went intown for lunch. Yokohama is said to have the largest Chinatown next to San Francisco. Keep in mind we are in Japan still... So we headed out in search of Dim Sum and let me tell you, it wasnt hard to find. Marked by a big chinese gate the narrow road looked - at first glance to be just another side street. But after traveling about a block it all becomes clear, the street is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops. One street off shoots two or three times and next thing you know you are all turned around. I havent spent a lot of time in SF Chinatown but this one definitely seems much larger than SF. We were successful, we enjoyed a great dim sum lunch and toured the rest of the Chinatown before returning the ship and taking a nice long nap! Yesterday (our 2nd in Yokohama) we took a tour of the Tava Caves and some shrines in Yokohama. But I will tell you more about that a little later. The waves and the computer screen as making me a little dizzy!!! Today is going to be another kind of adventure for the barely sea worthy Hickey folk.

Look for future posts:
Yokohama –Mama part 2
Which button to flush? Or I bet these toilets could take us to the moon – if we pressed the right button
The many uses of bean paste – is it a good thing or just bean paste?
Where in the world is the closest post office or 7-Eleven – How to get cash in Japan…
No more tea please – could you get a girl a skinny vanilla latte??
And many more!!!

The trials and tribulations of blogging

Still trying to figure this out and whenever I bring up my blog I get this screen that looks like it wants to post something. Typically I just save as a draft. This time I will publish something to see if it will go away!!! It's Wednesday September 23rd and we are leaving Tokyo headed to Yokohama. So much to share about the trip so far will be posting items about the food, the fashion, and the fun we have had. And if I am really successful, you might even see a picture and some videos. No promises but I am trying folks, I really an trying!!!

The Trip is On!!!

It is 11:30 pm on Saturday September 19th, which means I must be in Tokyo. SO for those I have talked to about this trip. One important point of clarification, the entire trip from Hartford to Tokyo took 20 hours. Contrary to what I had been saying Chicago to Tokyo, to my great relief was not a 20 hour flight but rather 12 hours. The 12 hour flight was made that much more enjoyable by upgrading to business class. While I think I would have safely survived coach – I SO enjoyed business class and the seat with 100 settings including completely flat. Another benefit was the In-Flight Japanese, which I spent at least 2 hours of my time going through in an effort to at least appear as though I had made an attempt. As we landed I was confident I could say, hello, good by, thank you and several other basic phrases. Something happened as I got off the flight. It is as if I had lost my words completely! I could only smile and bow. But despite my lack of skills in the language department, Narita was pretty easy to navigate. I made my way over to Terminal 1 where I connected to Wilf (my host) and Linda and we made out way to the ship. Quick check in, get situated before a night cap at the bar and off to bed!

Day 2 - Sunday September, 20th…
I must be far from home if I am awake and ready to go at 530 am on a vacation day but I got a chance to work out. We took a shuttle into the Ginza district of Tokyo where we went through a few of the large department stores that are so famous. These stores are enormous and most have food and restaurant sections, which are amazing, the products are beautiful. I have included some pictures. After lunch we walked through the Ginza district to the Imperial Palace. Which is the primary residence of the current Emperor, similar to Buckingham Palace, you can only glimpse part of the palace. Now we are all about the sites and the history but culturally things are very different and things we take for granted in the US we now have to relearn. One of these things is the bathrooms. We have learned that most restrooms have western toilet options but I did not know these when I found myself in a Japanese bathroom, the pictures will say more than I could ever say.

That is all I will say for now. Time for bed another early start... Hope everyone is well. Enjoy some of our photos and I even hope to have some videos to share.

T-12 Days

I can not believe it is almost here. Vacation. And not a moment too soon!! This year I have been invited to join my sister and her partner on a one in a life time trip to Japan. I can not even wait! I have created this blog for folks who want to follow along with us as we navigate our way.... It is bound to be an adventure!